Wildlife Expo!

Today was a GREAT day! I started the day with a quick trip to the library book sale. I picked up several great history books on ancient civilizations to go along with our study of the ancients this year. I found a couple of books on Egypt and Mummies, a few on Greece, and a copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh! We just talked about that story, and now we can read the full version. I came home with a box full of books for only $12!

Next we headed off to the Wildlife Expo, but we passed a few garage sales on the way. I picked up a few more history books and the last in a science series we are using (normally $70 - I paid $20!). The kids found a few toys as well. It was a great day for shopping!

Finally! We made it to the Lazy E Arena and this is what we did:

  Archery!

The kids had to go back and shoot a second time. Jonathan popped the balloon and won a back pack for the kids.

 Learning to cast a fishing line! Lilly hit the target the first few times. (With a little help.)

 Digging for bugs in compost....worms, sow bugs, and much, much more.

Yes...they are petting a skunk!! Don't worry, it can't spray!

Studying the fish of Oklahoma.

 Gooseknocking. 

The point is to knock the head off the geese.

Look at that action shot of Lilly!

 

Giant paddlefish - this one was about 10 years old and 30 pounds. 

They can be up to 135 pounds. The kids both touched it, but there was a string attached to the mouth and the attendant moved it when people touched the fish. Lilly jumped back a few feet!

And she was done!

Aidan's Birthday Week!

We had a lot of fun this week and also managed to accomplish A LOT!! We started the week with a trip to the State Fair of Oklahoma. We took the kids to see Disney's Toy Story on Ice, Aidan held a duck at the Duck Races, we saw some amazing dog tricks, learned about sea lions, walked through a petting zoo, ate Indian Tacos, pizza on a stick, and cotton candy! The kids also went on a bunch of rides and Aidan won a red light-saber at a game booth!

For school, Aidan and I made a deal; If he completed all 5 days worth of work in 4 days, he could have his birthday off. He did successfully complete all of his work, and then some. We are now a few days ahead in math and one day ahead in grammar!

We celebrated this morning with brownies for breakfast, some Mario Kart, and lots of laziness. We will make up for that tomorrow at the Wildlife Expo. Aidan has been looking forward to this for 2 months! Then, on Sunday, we have his birthday party. It is a big week for us!

 Watching Disney on Ice. They LOVED it!!

At the petting zoo - Alpaca, Kangaroo, and Lilly petting a goat!

Aidan getting ready to race his duck!

Letting it go!

He could not stop smiling while he jumped! It was so much fun to watch!

Lilly LOVED Dumbo!

The lighting was awful for pictures, but there is a sea lion on the left and the kids are in the center.

This week - September 12-16, 2011

This week was crazy! We chased a possum, watched a toad, and caught a dragonfly! We eventually got all of our school work done, Friday was a long day and we did not finish until 11:30 PM! I would not have done the school work, but Aidan insisted on finishing it (he had been grounded already due to is behavior during actual school time, he did not want to have to make it up on Saturday). Here are some pictures from the week:

This is the Aidan with the dragonfly and a picture of the dragonfly after we let it go. It was HUGE!!

 Lilly is our artist. She loves to draw on my whiteboard. I am very impressed with her people! She is only three and a half.

At co-op they learned about God creating the sky. I love her clouds, she loved the balloon.

Aidan made a lapbook about owls at co-op. He was very proud!

Looking at the toad.

See the bump on the fence panel? That is the toad.

Looking for the possum that was eating Victor's (our cat) food!

The cat food thief!

Week Six - 30 days down, 150 to go!

We are pretty much in a groove now with school. We have rough days (Monday was one, I am glad Aidan did not know it was a holiday or it would have been worse!) We went swimming after school on Monday and ate dinner with Mema and Papa.

We did add two new things to our schedule this week: Classical Conversations Foundations and The LIGHT co-op classes. We are doing CC at home. Aidan took to the history time line very quickly! He did so well with all of the memory work, I don't think we will be able to have some fun with it this year.

Aidan's apple artwork from class.

Lilly's artwork - God creates light.

Co-op was great!! I was able to spend some time in fellowship with other moms! It was nice to spend some time with adults. I look forward to getting to know these women over the next 10 weeks. The kids LOVED their classes!! Aidan's class read "Johnny Appleseed" and did some crafts. He made new best friends in PE. Lilly colored and played. They did a lesson on creation; but she could not...or would not (I don't know which it is with her sometimes!) tell me about it.

A few of the books I am using to prepare for my class!

I started teaching a 10 week class on Shakespeare! I think this is going to be great. We learned some basics of Iambic Pentameter, reading and interpreting Shakespeare, and they were given an assignment - to memorize a sonnet. Next week we will start with either MacBeth or The Merchant of Venice. I love Shakespeare and I have not looked at his works much in the last 5 years. It looks like I need to brush up my Shakespeare (bonus points if you know what show that references)! I prepared this short reference sheet on iambic pentameter to help the class learn to read it aloud (the bulk of the class will be spent reading the two plays as a group).

The Oklahoma Science Museum

Today we went on our first field trip of the year! We had some fun at the Oklahoma Science Museum (formally known as the Omniplex). Aidan and Lilly loved it! We watched a live science presentation on Physics....there were explosions and a vortex cannon! Most of the exhibits have been around since I was in elementary school, it brought back memories of my many field trips to the Omniplex. We ended the day at the Planetarium. I loved seeing all of the constellations -  but I think the kids were too tired. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

 

This was moments before she lit a match and made the bubbles explode in Jonathan's hand! It was loud and cool! We were a little surprised by the loud explosion, it was not what we expected!

Sounding the train whistle!

He loved all the planes in the aviation section!

Lilly loves to pose for the camera.

A bunch of hams!

Again....she poses!

By the aircraft carrier model.

Pendulum swings.

That girl!! What can you do!

Segway track! This was so cool!

This is basically a giant computer operated etch-a-sketch. He watched it create an awesome design!

Creating wind tunnel experiments!

We had a lot of fun today! Aidan passed out early tonight, he wore himself out :)